As the old business adage goes, “It takes money to make money.”
You, the business owner wanting to succeed and profit in today’s competitive marketplace need to be implementing optimized and cohesive marketing strategies. If you fail to invest in digital marketing, you will be left behind, as your customers are increasingly turning to the Internet to inform their purchase decisions. (more…)
With the New Year right around the corner, I thought this would be a good time create A Guide to Small Business Goal Setting. Traditionally at this time of year, many people are planning their New Year’s resolutions for the personal goals they would like to achieve. However many small business owners also have renewed inspiration for the upcoming year because of new marketing budgets and expectations for increased prosperity.
Many goals, whether they are personal or professional, are often set with the best of expectations, however they are often not achieved for variety of reasons, which I will cover.
The first and most obvious step in the goal setting process is to actually have some goals and take the time to write them down. If it is not written down, preferably on paper (yes the old 20th century style of communication), it is unlikely that those goals will be achieved. Typing them out and reviewing them on a computer screen is certainly better than just keeping them in your head, however it is not nearly as effective as physically writing them down. There is something magical that happens on a subconscious level during the act of writing your goals down on paper. It does not matter whether you understand or believe this concept. It is just the way the things work and it has been scientifically proven, so the sooner you accept this universal law, the better off you will be. Incidentally, if you have not already shared this post on Facebook to receive the 2 most important core principles that radically boost your chances for success, I encourage you to scroll up and do so now. I don’t recall when I first heard “A Goal Without a Timeline is Just a Dream”, but it is a statement that has stuck with me for many years. There are many reasons why this statement true. First of all, there is no way to track progress or milestones without knowing where you are in the overall process. Secondly, there is no sense of urgency because on a subconscious level, we are thinking we will get around to doing it whenever it is convenient or whenever we have the extra time. That thought process is a deal killer if you are serious about achieving your goals. You have the best chance of achieving your goals when they are broken down into small, actionable items that can be tracked and monitored. An easy way to accomplish this is to think in reverse. Analyze your goal and determine the individual components that must be achieved to reach those goals. These bite-size pieces are much easier to comprehend and track, therefore more likely to be accomplished. Staples published an article in 2010 which stated that 80 percent of the small business owners they surveyed admitted they do not adequately track and monitor their goals. This is often a critical missing component responsible for lack of achievement of business and marketing goals. This concept works closely with the paragraph above because as it is with any journey, one must constantly assess the current status and make the proper course corrections to stay on track. Many small business owners have a staff to manage, whether they are actual employees or contract workers. Since your staff contributes greatly to the success of your organization, it is important to include them as part of your goal setting process. I have consulted with entrepreneurs who often overlook or minimize the importance of this component. After you have determined the goals you would like your company to achieve, the next step is to break it down by department to analyze what each of those groups need to achieve to contribute to the overall process. If your company is small enough, it is best to consult with each of your employees individually. Otherwise you can have the department manager do the same with them. Ideally, setting aside 20 or 30 minutes to have them write down the goals you would like to help them achieve will be immensely beneficial for them and your organization. Besides helping them to develop the proper mindset for success, it will also help them to realize the importance and value their contributions make to the organization. I would recommend rewarding your staff with monthly or quarterly bonuses or incentives of some sort, whenever they have achieved the milestones that have been set for them. Regardless of how small the bonuses, people will appreciate the recognition and it will remind them of the milestones and reinforce the concept of contributing to the greater good of the company. If you would like a more personalized evaluation of your current or proposed marketing strategies, contact the professionals at Your Marketing Crew. We invite you to call us today at 727-210-5046 to schedule a no-cost consultation where we can learn more about you and your business, what you would like to accomplish, and make some recommendations to see if we are good fit. We look forward to the opportunity of working with you to help you grow your business.[Share this post on Facebook and I will reveal the 2 most important keys to achieving your goals. If you don’t get these 2 core principles right from the beginning, your chances for success are greatly diminished. This much I can guarantee!]
Why Most Goals Fail
Write Your Goals Down
Your Goals MUST Have a Timeline
Your Goals Must Be Action Oriented
Tracking and Monitoring
Helping Your Employees Achieve Their Goals
Properly Reward and Incentivize Your Staff
Need Help Developing Your Marketing Goals?
Branding is a fairly broad term and it basically means all of the elements that are related to your business that people associate with. In other words, branding is the personality of your business. This encompasses many different factors such as the name of your business, the logo, the tagline or slogan or an advertising jingle. It may also include many other intangible qualities such as a specific niche or specialty area that your business services, some particular qualities about your business or staff or dozens of other attributes which creates a perception of what your business is like. I will address some of the more important factors of branding your business and ways to create a brand. Many public relations firms consider branding to be an important element of your overall marketing plan. (more…)
I guess the first question I need to ask is do you even have your own website? In order to take advantage of the many website promotion strategies, Internet marketing techniques and tools, you really need to have your own website. If you do a search in Google for such terms as online marketing tips, online promotional strategies, Internet marketing, Internet promotional techniques, online advertising strategies or any other related terms, you will quickly realize the importance of having your own website.
In today’s modern digital world, having your own website is not only important, it is absolutely essential. This is a critical component of any Internet marketing strategy. Nearly everyone looking to purchase a product or service will go to the Internet first. If your website cannot be easily found, your prospects will surely find your competitors. Most people frown upon businesses that do not have a website because it is often viewed as some fly-by-night company, which is certainly not the image you want to portray. (more…)
As small business owners, we need to constantly be aware of the multitude of marketing opportunities that surround us every day. To survive in this tough economy, you need to maximize the dollars that you invest in marketing to get your greatest ROI. Lowering your marketing costs can certainly give you a better return on your investment.
One of the easiest ways to get more mileage out of your advertising and promotional dollars is to think of creative ways to implement new marketing strategies in some of the things you already do. (more…)
This is a continuation of part one of this article on surefire ways to lower your marketing costs.
This method goes back long before the Internet was around and I believe it got its start in the car sales business. Well it still works today. In fact, I use it myself more so in the digital environment rather than with business cards as it was originally carried out. Basically, you are paying someone a referral fee for anyone they refer to you who becomes a new client. You can decide the amount of the referral fee depending on the type of product or service you sell, however, don’t be stingy because you want to make the incentive strong enough to compel people to participate.
You can either use a fixed price per referral or a percentage of the total sale. That is for you to decide, but make the reward significant enough to keep your bird dogs happy. Remember this is found money. These are customers that you have obtained with virtually zero effort or marketing dollars. Folks, it really doesn’t get any better than that. (more…)
Having a good domain name can often be one of the cornerstones of a site that ranks well in the search engines and therefore I recommend putting a reasonable amount of time and effort into the research before choosing your domain name. Here are some important tips that will aid you in your planning when you are faced with choosing your next domain name. Choosing a good domain name may not be as hard as you think.
I feel the most important aspect of your domain name is to have it match the main product or service for which you hope to rank. Google and the other search engines tend to favor websites for which the domain name matches the main product or service as closely as possible. (more…)
It’s a fact of life in the business world. Customer attrition will happen and we as small business owners have to accept that. However, there are steps that can be taken for reducing customer turnover.
As I have mentioned in my previous small business marketing advice article, your existing customer base is your most valuable asset. That is a fact that should be recognized, appreciated and optimized for your greatest marketing ROI. Customers who have already purchased from you are more likely to purchase again, more likely to refer their friends and associates and the average transaction per sale is usually higher. Those are all important metrics that contribute significantly to the long-term success of any business. Reducing customer turnover can certainly keep more profits in your bottom line. (more…)
Let’s face it; everyone is feeling the effects of our economic situation and as small business owners, these may be some of the toughest times many of us have ever faced. But I do not want to dwell on that (and neither should you) because there is still a lot room for your small business to be the success you dream it to be. In fact, if you look back at our economic history, times harder than this have presented business owners a great amount of opportunities to continue building their businesses. It’s all a matter of choosing to have the right mindset, putting your worries aside, and actively taking the steps to promote your small business even more. Incorporating even a few of these small business advertising tips can certainly enhance your profitability and help carry you to the next level of success. (more…)
There are many factors of your overall web design strategy that should be considered when you are either creating a website or doing a substantial upgrade to your existing website. One of the biggest design mistakes I often see with many websites happens before the site is even built. That answer that would surprise most people but as you read on you will understand what I mean.
One of the most important questions a small business owner should ask themselves when considering building a website would be and what is the real purpose of my website? That factor is sometimes overlooked by many small business owners and Tampa Bay web designers, but it is an important consideration that should be carefully thought out before the actual web design process begins. (more…)
